Prime Minister's Office
English rendering of PM’s speech at foundation stone laying ceremony of various development projects at Hazaribagh, Jharkhand
Bharat Mata ki Jai!
Bharat Mata ki Jai!
All the dignitaries present on the stage and my dear brothers and sisters who have gathered here in large numbers to shower their blessings on me.
My dear brothers and sisters of Hazaribagh,
I have come to Hazaribagh even before. And every time you too come in large numbers to shower your blessings. But you tell me how is it that every time the record of the previous rally is broken? I can see that the stage has been set up on this side so that this side looks full with crowd. But there are even more people on the other side! Your presence here in such a huge number and showering your love and blessings instill in us the strength to work for you with more zest. The land of Jharkhand is a land of revolution and revolutionaries. This land has produced several fighters and revolutionaries. This land is known for the freedom struggle under the leadership of Bhagwan Birsa Munda and the resolution of Satyagraha. I once again pay my tribute to the son of this soil, Martyr Vijay Soreng. I salute his family in Gumla from the core of my heart. His children are bravely facing the situation. As gratitude, we should take care of his family at every step and at every level as a guardian.
Friends,
Today I have come to Jharkhand to accelerate the development work that we have been doing for the past four and a half years. The infrastructure facilities here will get a boost by the dedication and laying the foundation stone of the Medical College building, hospital, engineering college, the pipeline project to get rid of water supply issue and the Namami Gange project. I congratulate you all for this. I also congratulate the thousands of farmers here who are getting government's assistance for the purchase of smart phones.
Friends,
Jharkhand has been a witness to the inception of the world's largest health insurance scheme, Ayushman Bharat - PMJAY. With your blessings, today this scheme is helping lakhs of poor families to get rid of diseases. This scheme has also benefitted Jharkhand. Fifty-seven thousand people here have been provided with free treatment for serious diseases. Recently, I have seen in the news that the second largest operation of a tumour was conducted in Jamshedpur with the help of Ayushman Bharat Yojana. In a short while, I will be heading to Ranchi and will listen to the many experiences of the beneficiaries of Ayushman Bharat there. I will be interacting with them.
Friends,
The central government is relentlessly making efforts along with the state government to strengthen the healthcare facilities in Jharkhand. As a result of these efforts, today we are inaugurating Medical Colleges in the three districts - Dumka, Hazaribagh and Palamu after taking the initiative of setting up AIIMS in Deoghar. Just three years back, there were only three Medical Colleges. And now see, three Medical Colleges are being opened in a single day. With these Medical Colleges, not only will the youngsters get good quality medical education, but will also get better health care facilities. Moreover, foundation stone of hospitals with a capacity of 500 beds have also been laid in Hazaribagh, Dumka, Palamu and Jamshedpur.
Brothers and sisters,
Health is directly related to drinking water and sanitation. The government is ceaselessly making efforts to make clean drinking water accessible to Jharkhand. Our government has worked on not 1 or 2 but 350 projects at a cost of thousands of crores of rupees. I have got the opportunity to launch and lay the foundation stone of 11 such projects just a short while ago.
Brothers and sisters,
Today several irrigation projects have also been started here. On the completion of these projects, thousands of hectares of land including that of Hazaribagh, Ramgarh, Palamu, Goda and Western Singbhbhum will be brought under irrigation. The last time when I had visited Palamu, I had started the work on the Mandal dam and on the North Koel Project that was in limbo for decades. All these projects are going to brighten the future of farmers here.
Friends,
The Government of Jharkhand is engaged in putting the central government's campaign of ' From Seed to the Market' to practice. Today the scheme of handing over smart phones to the farmers has been started. Some of the farmers have also been given cheques. This scheme will benefit 27 lakh farmers of the state. Now the smart phones will help the farmers in Digital transactions related to the sale of their crops. They will be able to know the weather conditions, and about new technology in farming and at the same time they will be able to join other government schemes.
Friends,
The mission of the central government as well as the Jharkhand government is to free the farmers and the poor of the middlemen. This is the reason why every government assistance, be it ration, scholarship or pension, is directly being transferred to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries. Recently, taking this scheme forward, a major scheme has been formulated for the small farmers. Our government has come up with Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana. Under this scheme, funds will be transferred directly into the bank accounts of those farmers who have land of 5 acres or less. In the next 10 years, our government will deposit Rs.7.5 lakh crores in the bank accounts of the farmers. With this amount, they will be able to purchase seeds, medicines and fertilizer and they will not have to get loans from the money lenders at high interest rates. This will benefit about 12 crore farmers of the country and about 22 lakh farmer families of Jharkhand.
Friends,
Walking on the path of 'Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas', the central government is engaged in the work of empowering every category - the deprived, the backward, the oppressed, the tribals, women and the youth. Following the same principle, today two educational institutions have been inaugurated. One of the institutions is associated with women and the other one is associated with the tribal society. Today Women's Engineering College has been opened in Ramgarh. At the same time, the foundation stone of the Centre for Tribal Studies in Acharya Vinoba Bhave University has been laid at Hazaribagh.
Friends,
Jharkhand has always prioritized women's empowerment. The entire nation is talking about the bike stunt of Hazaribagh's daughter Captain Shikha Surabhi in this year's Republic Day parade. Ramgarh's women's engineering college will produce several daughters like Shikha Surabhi for the nation who will build new values for a New India. This is the first all-women Engineering College of Eastern India and third in the country.
Brothers and sisters,
The central government is relentlessly trying to connect the tribal society with education and skill development. The youngsters from the tribal society are being provided with every kind of assistance for school education as well as higher education. The setting up of Centre for Tribal Studies in Acharya Vinoba Bhave University will help to know about the tribal society and culture in detail and will help in carrying the society's values to the future generations.
Similarly, Eklavya Model Schools are being opened in several tribal areas of the country including Jharkhand. In Jharkhand, there are two dozen such schools and 70 new schools will soon be opened.
Friends,
Facilities of sports in tribal areas are being strengthened so that our tribal youth can perform better in sports. Jharkhand has also given the country talented players in various sports including archery. In such a scenario, the strength of the youth of Jharkhand will be even more enhanced in the future.
Friends,
A significant scheme related to the nutrition of the children has also been started. Under this scheme, the children will be provided with packets of milk in their schools. This will help the poor and tribal children to get rid of the problem of malnutrition. Like our Chief Minister just said - the scheme is known as 'Kanha Dugdh Yojana'. In a way, he commemorated Lord Shri Krishna. I hope that with this 'Kanha Dugdh Yojana', the children here will become promising so much so that they make the nation proud. The central government's Poshan Mission will also get a boost with this scheme.
Friends,
Apart from the efforts in the direction of education, skill and nutrition, the government is also striving to take the contributions made by the tribal heroes during the freedom struggle to the future generations in an attempt to pay tribute to them. The Birsa Munda Museum being set up at Jharkhand is an evidence of that effort. This museum will enrich the identities of great tribal freedom fighters like Birsa Munda. Similar museums are being set up in different states of the country wherein the central government is giving assistance to the state governments. These museums will not only remind us of our tribal heroes but will also become centres of tourism.
Friends,
I am glad that Jharkhand has done a commendable job in the direction of sanitation. The percentage of sanitation was only 20% about four and a half years ago while today Jharkhand has declared itself as Open Defecation Free. Many congratulations to Raghubar Das ji, his entire team and workers at all levels of his administration. More than 33 lakh toilets were constructed in record time. I was told that Hazaribagh has the best record in this as well. The maximum numbers of toilets were constructed in the minimum time. I congratulate you all for this achievement.
Friends,
Several projects related to the cleaning up of the river have also been launched and their foundation stones have been laid. The Sahibganj Sewage Treatment Plant has been inaugurated while the construction work of the Ramgarh Sewer Treatment Plant has been started today. Under the Namami Gange project, beautification work of the ghats is also being carried out along with water treatment work. Beautification of the Madhusudan ghat is already over. All these projects have been possible because you had chosen a majority government four and a half years ago.
I take every possible step and work day and night with complete dedication and sincerity for the country's development and for the development of every sector of the country. May your blessings always be upon me! With this hope, I end my speech.
Close both your fists and say aloud with me -
Bharat Mata ki Jai!
Bharat Mata ki Jai!
Bharat Mata ki Jai!